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   Das, Sabyasachi ; Liang, Chao ; Dunn, Jennifer B. ( November 2022 , Waste Management)
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4. Exergy-Based Sustainability Analysis for Tile Production From Waste Plastics in Uganda

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4045540  

   Balcom, Paige ; Carey, Van P. ( May 2020 , Journal of Energy Resources Technology)

   Abstract This paper presents an exergy-based sustainability analysis of manufacturing roof tiles from plastic waste in Uganda. This work focuses specifically on the developing country context and on utilizing waste material. A summary of the current Ugandan plastic waste situation, environmental and health issues associated with plastic waste, current means of recycling plastic waste into new products, and an analysis of the Ugandan roofing market is presented. The total exergy consumed to produce one batch of 75 tiles is over 240 MJ, the potentially recoverable exergy is nearly 17 MJ (8% of consumed exergy), and the realistic recoverable exergy is over 6.4 MJ (nearly 3% of consumed exergy). Recycling plastic waste into roof tiles saves a net 188 kg of CO2 from entering the atmosphere per batch when compared with open burning. If all of Kampala’s plastic waste was converted to roofing tiles, nearly 560 tonnes of CO2 could be saved per year. 

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5. Rapid Accumulation of Soil Inorganics on Plastics: Implications for Plastic Degradation and Contaminant Fate

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00241  

   Pincus, Lauren N. ; Pattammattel, Ajith ; Leshchev, Denis ; Zhao, Kewei ; Stavitski, Eli ; Chu, Yong S. ; Myneni, Satish C. ( June 2023 , Environmental Science & Technology Letters)

   As plastics degrade in the environment, chemical oxidation of the plastic surface enables inorganics to adsorb and form inorganic coatings, likely through a combination of adsorption of minerals and in situ mineral formation. The presence of inorganic coatings on aged plastics has negative implications for plastics fate, hindering our ability to recycle weathered plastics and increasing the potential for plastics to adsorb contaminants. Inorganic coatings formed on terrestrially weathered polyethylene were characterized using synchrotron spectroscopy and microscopy techniques across spatial scales including optical microscopy, nano-X-ray-fluorescence mapping (nano-XRF), nano-X-ray absorption near edge structure (nano-XANES), and high-energy resolution fluorescence detected-XANES (HERFD-XANES). Results indicate a heterogeneous elemental distribution and speciation which includes inorganics common to soil terrestrial environments including iron oxides and oxyhydroxides, aluminosilicates, and carbonates. 

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